Klingon history
Like its people, the history of the Klingon Empire is violent but colorful. Early History In ancient times, notably during the early part of the Zanxthkolt Dynasty, Klingons practiced mummification. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) Around the year 900 CE, Qo'noS was ruled by Molor, a tyrannical ruler who was generally unpopular among the people. Kahless the Unforgettable emerged as a champion of the people, and slew Molor in single combat using the first bat'leth, the Sword of Kahless. This event continues to be celebrated in the Empire in the ''Kot'baval'' Festival. (TNG: "Firstborn") Kahless ruled together with his wife, the Lady Lukara, as Emperor of Qo'noS, despite the fact that he was not of noble birth. Kahless was not just a warrior, but also a philosopher. During his rule, he established a strict warrior code that was adopted into Klingon culture and tradition. His words are frequently invoked by warriors about to enter battle. Among his sayings are, "A leader is judged not by the length of his reign but by the decisions he makes." (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind") Over the next 1300 years, the Klingon Empire would slowly expand, despite a devastating conquest and sack by the Hur'q around thousand years ago. The Hur'q were a powerful race from the Gamma Quadrant possibly using the Bajoran wormhole to reach Qo'noS. Although they did not stay long, either because of their nomadic way of life or because of fierce resistance from the Klingons, they did not leave before taking many valuable cultural treasures, including the revered Sword of Kahless. In the beginning of the 17th century, the Second Dynasty ruled over the Klingon Empire, but was ended with General K'Trelan assassinating Emperor Reclaw then later putting to death all the members of the Imperial Family. The next ten years that followed, the Empire was ruled by a council elected by the people, which is referred to as "The Dark Time" by Klingon historians. Following this period a new group of Klingons, called the Third Dynasty, were given the titles and names of the original Imperial Family in order to create the illusion of an unbroken line since the true Imperial bloodlines were cut at the end of the Second Dynasty. (DS9:"You Are Cordially Invited...") By the 22nd century, the Klingons were a major regional power, holding several dozen star systems and fielding a formidable military, the Klingon Defense Force. (Star Trek: Enterprise) Early Contact with Humans In the late 2140s and early 2150s, the Klingons were engaged in a fierce internal struggle that, while not amounting to actual civil war, threatened to become a more intense conflict. Numerous attacks had taken place throughout the empire that were blamed on various Klingon factions; it was not realized at the time that the attacks had actually been launched by the Suliban Cabal, who were taking orders from a mysterious individual who was an operative in the Temporal Cold War. Although the Klingons had had occasional contact with the Vulcans prior to 2151, they had not met Humans until a courier named Klaang crashed on Earth while pursued by two Suliban soldiers. After dispatching his two pursuers, Klaang was shot by a frightened local farmer named Moore. Although Vulcan ambassador Soval advised that Starfleet authorities withhold medical treatment and allow Klaang to die, Captain Jonathan Archer intervened and insisted on returning Klaang to Qo'noS aboard his ship, the ''Enterprise'' (NX-01). Archer, however, did not understand the complexity or importance of Klingon tradition, and did not realize that returning Klaang to Qo'noS was a grave dishonor and insult. However, Klaang carried with him proof that the attacks were in fact launched by the Suliban, which averted a civil war. For this service, Archer and his ship were allowed to leave peacefully. However, the incident did not leave Klingons kindly disposed towards Humans. (ENT: "Broken Bow") In early 2153, the Empire again encountered the Enterprise when the human ship rescued a refugee ship from Rha'darus that was attempting to flee Klingon territory. Captain Archer chose to render assistance to the refugees, but failed to realize the ramifications of his actions, particularly the embarrassment he would cause the Klingons. When the Klingons demanded that the refugees be handed over for trial, Archer refused to comply. Captain Duras of the [[IKS Bortas|IKS Bortas]] intercepted the Enterprise and attacked it, unsuccessfully. Archer was later captured and brought to trial on Narendra III, a Klingon colony, for being an "enemy of the state." In an incendiary tribunal, Archer's "interference" with Klingon affairs earned him a life sentence to Rura Penthe. However, Archer managed to quickly escape from the prison, further embarrassing the Klingons. (ENT: "Judgment") The Klingons launched several further attempts to recapture Archer, including hiring bounty hunters (ENT: "Bounty") and sending Duras himself to track the Enterprise and recapture Archer. However, Duras was unsuccessful in three different attacks against the Enterprise, and he was finally killed when the Enterprise destroyed his ship during the third attack on the edges of the Delphic Expanse. (ENT: "The Expanse") Augment Crisis The Klingon Empire nearly went to war with Earth during the Augment Crisis in May 2154, when a group of humans hijacked a bird-of-prey and ejected its crew into space. Fortunately, war was averted when Enterprise destroyed the rogue humans responsible and saved the Qu'Vat colony from a biogenic attack. (ENT: "Borderland", et al.) A short time later, the Klingons found genetic material of the human Augments within the wreckage of the hijacked Bird-of-Prey. Fearing that Starfleet may be attempting to create genetically-superior humans to take over the Empire, they tried to adapt this genetic engineering to improve themselves. An unanticipated side effect was that the Augment DNA caused the cranial ridges to dissolve. The test subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence, but then their neural pathways started to degrade and they died in agony. One of the subjects was suffering from the Levodian flu, which was modified by the Augment genes to become a deadly, airborne plague that spread rampantly among the Empire, from world to world. In the first stage of this plague, Klingons lost the ridges on their foreheads and began to look more human-like. With the help of a Klingon scientist named Antaak, Dr. Phlox of the Enterprise was able to formulate a cure that halted the genetic effects of the virus in the first stage, retaining the changes in appearance along with some minor neural re-ordering, but with no development of stage two characteristics, such as enhanced strength, speed, or endurance. This left millions of Klingons, mostly in the warrior caste, without their ridges. These alterations were even passed on to their children. This embarrassed the Klingons even further and the Empire no doubt began to feel much more contempt for humans, who were responsible for creating the genetic material in the first place. (ENT: "Affliction," "Divergence") :The virus must have been cured sometime between 2269 and 2293, since we see Kang (lacking ridges in TOS: "Day of the Dove") with forehead ridges in VOY: "Flashback". It is most likely that it was before 2273, since that marks the first re-appearance of the ridges in the Trek timeline, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Fan speculation has also suggested that other differences in attitude and methodology between the TOS and non-TOS Klingons can be attributed to the neural re-ordering left by the virus. :Based on dialogue from the Star Trek movies and ''The Next Generation, it was originally believed that First Contact between the Federation and the Klingon Empire took place around 2218 (TOS: "Day of the Dove"), and immediately led to the state of cold war that lasted until the events of Star Trek VI. Most notable was a reference to the first contact with the Klingons in TNG: "First Contact", which implied that the events of that "disastrous" meeting directly caused decades of near-warfare. However, all this speculation has been contradicted by events seen on Enterprise. Also in TOS:The Trouble with Tribbles Spock states that the dispute of the cold war in 2218 started in initial contact which also conflicts with the Enterprise first contact.'' :There is some fan speculation that the first contact witnessed on ''Enterprise and the subsequent events on the show actually take place in an alternate timeline created by the Temporal Cold War. This, however, is merely speculation.'' Finally, in the year 2218, the Klingons became mortal adversaries of Earth, and by 2223, relations had degraded to a point where the two powers were constantly on the verge of war. (TOS: "Day of the Dove," Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) Cold war By the 23rd century, the Empire and the new United Federation of Planets, founded by an alliance between Earth, Vulcan, Tellar and Andoria, were engaged in a tense cold war. The Federation was quickly expanding, and its territory began to approach that of the Empire. Disputes over ownership of various star systems arose, particularly over worlds such as Donatu V, Sherman's Planet, the Archanis sector, and Organia. Although numerous skirmishes were fought between the Federation Starfleet and Klingon forces during this time, both sides refrained from committing to open warfare. However, in 2267 negotiations between the two sides broke down, and the Federation officially declared war against the Empire. The Klingons launched an immediate offensive, seizing several planets including the strategically important Organia. Unexpectedly, the Klingon-Federation War was brought to a sudden conclusion just days after it had begun when the Organians, a race of massively powerful noncorporeal beings, intervened and forced both sides to end hostilities. The Treaty of Organia was then imposed, establishing a neutral zone separating the two powers and establishing a procedure, to be overseen by the Organians, through which planets along the border could be claimed and settled by both sides. (TOS: "Errand of Mercy", "The Trouble with Tribbles") A number of skirmishes and hostile encounters occurred over the next decade, including encounters at Capella IV, Neural, and Elas in which the Klingons tried to gain strategic advantage and secure mining rights for valuable minerals such as dilithium. (TOS: "Friday's Child", "A Private Little War", "Elaan of Troyius") In 2268, the Klingons entered into a brief and ill-advised alliance with their long-time blood enemies, the Romulans. This alliance included a technological exchange, in which the Klingons received cloaking technology in trade for D7-class battlecruisers. (TOS: "[[The Enterprise Incident|The Enterprise Incident]]") The alliance came to a quick and violent end with the Battle of Klach D'Kel Brakt in 2272. (DS9: "Blood Oath") : The terms of the treaty are partially speculation, but based on the fact that the Klingons were using cloaking devices and ships called birds-of-prey in ''Star Trek III. The significance of Klach D'Kel Brakt is in part speculation, but based on the timing (a century before the DS9 episode), seems to fit the background as a celebrated battle between the Klingons and the Romulans.'' A brief but ultimately unsuccessful thawing in relations occurred in 2267 between the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Empire, with the founding of a jointly-managed colony on Nimbus III. Dubbed the "planet of galactic peace," the colony quickly became an embarrassing failure for all three governments, although regular meetings between representatives did take place at the colony for at least the next 20 years. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) Tensions between the Klingons and the Federation again came to a head in the 2280s with the revelation of the secret Project Genesis, a scientific program developing an advanced method of quickly terraforming worlds — but a method which also had great potential for causing destruction. The Klingons sent a bird-of-prey to covertly obtain the secrets of the Genesis Planet, while at the same time negotiating openly with the Federation. The Klingons planned to accuse the Federation of duplicity in developing Genesis as a weapon of awesome power and using the negotiations as a cover. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) However, when the crew of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]], commanded by James T. Kirk, managed to capture the bird-of-prey, the Klingon ambassador proclaimed a vendetta against Kirk, vowing, "there shall be no peace so long as Kirk lives!" (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) Détente and peace Although negotiations had proceeded intermittently since the imposition of the Organian Peace Treaty, no major progress was made in establishing any firm relationship between the two powers. The most notable meeting, however, were the Korvat Negotiations at the Korvat colony in 2289 in which Federation mediator Curzon Dax met with Kang. No lasting agreement was reached at this meeting, but Dax did manage to gain grudging respect from the Klingons and established a lasting rapport. (DS9: "Blood Oath") The situation abruptly changed with the explosion of the Klingon moon of Praxis in 2293. The disaster caused major problems for the Klingon economy and military, as well as a major ecological crisis on Qo'noS itself. The Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, Gorkon, took the controversial move of proposing a full peace treaty and establishing a process for dismantling the military fortifications and outposts along their mutual border — the military emplacements and warships that the Klingons could no longer afford. However, peace would not come easily. While en route to a meeting with the Federation president on Earth, Gorkon was assassinated by Starfleet conspirators from the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)|USS Enterprise-A]], who were working in cooperation with Klingon counterparts who also opposed any peace treaty between the two enemies. Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur, was appointed as the new chancellor in her father's place, and despite enormous pressure from her advisors to abandon the peace initiative, she chose to press forward and see her father's vision fulfilled. The ensuing Khitomer Conference resulted in the signing of the Khitomer Accords, a treaty which became the foundation for peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) The relationship between the two great powers, however, remained rocky for the next several decades. By the early 2340s, the two powers once again stood on the brink of war. However, a single courageous act by the crew of a Federation starship would finally change relations for the better. The starship [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C)|USS Enterprise-C]] responded to a distress signal from the colony on Narendra III, which was under attack by the Romulans. Despite overwhelming odds, the Enterprise-C rushed to the rescue, and the crew's conspicuous heroism in attempting to protect potential enemies left a lasting impression on the Klingons. By 2353, the Treaty of Alliance was signed, finally establishing a firm friendship between the two former enemies — just as the Organians had predicted almost eighty years before. (TNG: "[[Yesterday's Enterprise|Yesterday's Enterprise]]", DS9: "The Way of the Warrior") Civil war Despite the establishment of a full peace treaty with the Federation, the Empire would not remain at peace for very long. During the reign of Chancellor K'mpec (the longest-lived chancellor in Klingon history), two rival factions developed in the Klingon High Council. One, led by Gowron, favored continuing the peaceful relationship with the Federation, while the other, led by Duras, advocated setting an independent and aggressive policy. Duras was also secretly allied with Romulan interests who were seeking to split the Federation-Klingon alliance. By early 2367, the two factions were on the verge of starting a new civil war. (TNG: "Reunion") Although Duras was killed by Worf and his relationship with the Romulans exposed, Duras's sisters, Lursa and B'Etor continued the struggle in their brother's place. They presented Toral, the illegitimate son of Duras, to challenge Gowron for leadership of the Council. Because the majority of the Council had been corrupted by the House of Duras, they sided with the Duras sisters and walked out of the Council when Arbiter of Succession Jean-Luc Picard rejected Toral's claim, making official the division of the Empire. (TNG: "Redemption, Part I") The civil war, when it finally broke out, was as bold and bloody as any other conflict in Klingon history. The warriors of the Empire threw themselves into the fight with typical zeal — for example, Kurn was heard to shout, "Our time for glory is here!" In the first three engagements, the forces allied with the Duras family decisively defeated Gowron's allies. However, it was not generally realized at the time that the Duras forces were secretly receiving material aid from the Romulan Empire. The Romulans hoped that a victorious Duras family would end the Federation-Klingon alliance and create a new Romulan-Klingon alliance to shift the balance of power in the quadrant. However, interests in Starfleet recognized the probability that the Romulans were interfering in the conflict. Jean-Luc Picard and the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise-D]] led a fleet of starships to the Romulan-Klingon border, establishing a blockade and preventing the Romulans from sending the Duras forces further assistance. When the Romulan connection was finally revealed, support quickly fell away from the Duras family, and Gowron successfully reunited the Empire under his leadership. (TNG: "Redemption, Part II") See also: Klingon Civil War. Renewed hostilities The Federation-Klingon alliance would be sorely tested in the 2370s, after the Federation made first contact with the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant. The leaders of the Dominion, the Founders, had the express goal of conquering all of the powers of the Alpha Quadrant in order to prevent them from threatening the Great Link. (DS9: "The Search, Part II") In late 2371, the Dominion captured General Martok, a trusted advisor to Gowron, and replaced him with a shapeshifter impersonator. (DS9: "Apocalypse Rising", "In Purgatory's Shadow") The Changeling posing as Martok convinced Gowron that the recent civilian uprising in the Cardassian Union had been engineered and supported by the Dominion, and that the uprising heralded an imminent invasion by the Dominion into the Alpha Quadrant. To prevent this invasion from occurring, Gowron launched a massive assault against the Cardassian Empire in early 2372 with the goal of conquering all Cardassian territory to ensure that it could not be taken by the Dominion. When the Federation Council protested Gowron's actions, Gowron took it as a betrayal of the alliance and withdrew from the Khitomer Accords, ending the Federation-Klingon alliance. Although no declaration of official hostilities was made, a state of near-war developed between the two powers; the Klingons even launched a preemptive attack against the Federation outpost Deep Space 9 in order to capture the remaining free members of the Cardassian Detapa Council. However, DS9 captain Benjamin Sisko pointed out to Gowron that a war between the Federation, the Klingons, and the Cardassians was exactly what the Dominion wanted — a divided Alpha Quadrant that would be ripe for conquest in the future. Faced with this reasoning, Gowron called an end to the invasion and halted the attack against DS9. (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior") However, peace would not return. The Federation had refused to fight alongside their allies and had actually sided against them in battle, and the Klingons could not forgive or forget this transgression easily. A tense stand-off developed over the next year, with the Klingons attempting to make political inroads against both the Cardassians and the Federation to justify their offensives. (DS9: "Sons of Mogh", "Rules of Engagement") Finally, in late 2372 and at the Martok Changeling's suggestion, Gowron demanded that the Federation relinquish claims to a number of territories along their mutual border, or face war. When the Federation Council refused the demands, the Empire launched a massive invasion of the Federation. The Second Federation-Klingon War was brutal, but short — only a few weeks after it began, Gowron called an end to the conflict after a Starfleet covert ops team revealed that Martok was actually a shapeshifter, and the entire war had been engineered to divide the two former allies. (DS9: "Apocalypse Rising") The Dominion War When the Dominion annexed the Cardassian Union in mid-2373, the Klingons were quickly defeated by the Jem'Hadar and driven from all of their Cardassian conquests. Faced with the prospect of a larger war against a much more powerful enemy, Gowron agreed to re-sign the Khitomer Accords and renew the alliance with the Federation. In addition, a detatchment of Klingon soldiers was assigned to Deep Space 9, commanded, by the real Martok, who had been rescued from a Dominion internment camp (DS9: "By Inferno's Light") The Empire and the Federation would ultimately fight side by side in the ensuing Dominion War that broke out in late 2373; many of the most important engagements of the war were conducted in concert, including the Battle of Deep Space 9, the attack on Torros III, and Operation Return. (DS9: "Call to Arms", "Sacrifice of Angels") The anti-Dominion alliance gained new, unlikely allies in mid-2374 when the Romulan Empire declared war against the Dominion. Although the Romulans and the Klingons both harbored deep hatred for the other, the two former enemies managed to put aside their differences in order to successfully fight the Dominion. (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets") However, ultimate victory would eventually come at a very high price. When the Breen Confederacy entered the war in late 2375, the use of the previously-unknown energy dampening weapon effectively nullified the power of Starfleet and the Romulan forces, leaving the Klingons to fight on their own, outnumbered twenty to one. Rather than fight a holding action, however, Gowron ordered that Martok launch a full-scale offensive against the enemy, claiming that they had the advantage of surprise. (DS9: "When It Rains...") Ostensibly, Gowron hoped to achieve quick victory against the Dominion and claim all of the glory for the Empire in winning the war without the assistance of the Federation or the Romulans. But Gowron's real plan was much more subversive and political. Gowron feared the growing popularity of Martok, who had commanded the Klingon forces on the front lines and was rapidly gaining heroic status among the soldiers of the Empire. Gowron hoped to reclaim some of that popularity for himself by personally commanding the Klingon war effort from Deep Space 9, and by discrediting Martok in sending him on numerous hopeless missions. When no other Klingons would protest, Worf challenged Gowron to single combat, claiming that Gowron was a coward for jeopardizing the very existence of the Empire (and indeed the safety of the entire Alpha Quadrant) in order to satisfy his need for political security. Worf killed Gowron in the fight, thus claiming the right to rule the Empire himself. However, Worf declined the position and nominated Martok instead. (DS9: "Tacking into the Wind") Ultimately, the Empire would share in victory with the Federation and the Romulans after the final defeat of the Dominion at the Battle of Cardassia in late 2375. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind") Future According to an estimate by Section 31, the Klingons do not recover from their losses during the Dominion War until about 2385. In Daniels' timeline, the Klingons join the Federation by the 26th century. (ENT: "Azati Prime") Category:Qo'noS